Mr. Assange, an Australian, sought refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London five years ago after the authorities in Stockholm opened a preliminary rape investigation against him.

The decision does not mean that he is in the clear. In Britain, he still faces an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court, and the U.S. Justice Department was reconsidering last month whether to charge him for his role in the disclosure of highly classified information.

• Trump, defiant.

President Trump vehemently denied on Thursday any collusion between his campaign and Russia, and said the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the matter was part of a “witch hunt” dividing the U.S. We assessed his news conference.

Republican senators signaled that having the special counsel, Robert Mueller III, was likely to slow and narrow the scope of congressional inquiries into the matter.

President Trump leaves today for his first trip overseas, starting in Saudi Arabia, which is negotiating a $100 billion arms deal with the U.S. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, played a key role.

Foreign leaders are sharing tips on meeting with the American president.

• Iranians head to polls.

A crucial election in Iran today pits President Hassan Rouhani, a professed moderate who has pursued better relations with the West, against Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-liner.

Anthony Weiner, the former Democratic congressman whose political career ended in scandal, is to appear in a federal courtroom in Manhattan today to enter a guilty plea to a single charge of transferring obscene material to a minor.

The federal authorities have been investigating reports that, beginning in January 2016, Mr. Weiner, then 51, exchanged sexually explicit messages with a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina.

Smarter Living

• Recipe of the day: “Dutch baby,” a large, fluffy pancake, can be breakfast, lunch or dessert.

Noteworthy

• Monuments removed.

Today’s 360 video visits sites in New Orleans where Confederate statues were recently taken down.

Video

New Orleans is removing four monuments dedicated to the era of the Confederacy. See what remains at the sites in 360 degrees, and hear from residents and visitors as they are removed.CreditCreditBryan Tarnowski for The New York Times. Technology by Samsung.